Opel labor talks adjourned, to be resumed soon

Talks between Canadian automotive group Magna (MGa.TO), General Motors and workers at German carmaker Opel were adjourned with no result on Thursday and will resume soon, a spokesman for Opel said.

GM last month agreed to sell a 55 percent stake in Opel to Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank (SBER03.MM), but the contracts cannot be signed until workers agree to cost concessions to turn around the business.

GM and Magna officials have said they expect a formal closing by the end of November.

Sources close to the talks had said that they expected the sale contracts to be signed by the middle of next week, with a preliminary agreement to be struck with workers this week.

There will be no result of negotiations today, but talks will continue soon, Opel labor leader Klaus Franz told Reuters on Thursday.

Opel's 50,000 workers, half of whom are in Germany, have promised to cut costs by 265 million euros ($386.1 million) per year and are set to get a 10 percent stake in Opel in return.

Rainer Einenkel, head of the works council at Opel's factory in western German Bochum, said it was still not clear which plants would produce which cars in the future and whether it would be possible to avoid plant closures.

Talks will continue next week, but it is currently not clear when we will reach a conclusion, he said.

(Reporting by Angelika Gruber; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by David Cowell)